'Weeding' out officials' hypocrisy

Dude. I don't know about you, but I'm, like, constantly hearing from these seriously uncool reporters from out of state who ask me, like, you know, "Man, what is up with the politicians in Arizona? Are they smoking some seriously killer weed or what?"

To which I usually play along with the lame impersonation of a pothead and then respond:

"Well, ask yourself this: What else could account for their behavior?"

As a plausible explanation, it worked.

At least until last week, when Gov. Jan Brewer and Attorney General Tom Horne announced their intention to launch a legal challenge that, unfortunately, will demonstrate to the rest of the world that Arizona politicians do not indulge in any form of reefer or ganja when conducting state business. (No matter how much it looks that way.)

Brewer and Horne, who each opposed the medical-marijuana proposition approved by voters, said they will file a lawsuit that could jeopardize implementation of the law.

They say they're doing it because they're concerned that the law will put state employees at risk of being arrested.

U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke said that won't happen.

"We have no intention of targeting or going after people who are implementing or who are in compliance with state law," Burke said.

Brewer and Horne said the courts need to sort out the issue, based on their confusion over a letter Burke sent to the governor pointing out that the Arizona law, like those in other states, is in conflict with federal law.

Horne said, "We are not taking a position against the will of the voters. We are simply bringing it to court and asking the court to decide."

Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery chimed in: "I think this is the end of the medical-marijuana movement. You can't do a wink and a nod toward unlawful conduct and not have a consequence."

The attorney who wrote the medical-marijuana law disagrees. She told The Republic: "They can say what they want, but it does appear intended to thwart the will of the voters. They don't want to take a position because they don't want to upset the voters."

Burke said Brewer and Horne are overreacting.

Burke told a reporter: "You would think that a letter back from Attorney General Horne, as opposed to 'I'm going to file a lawsuit and have a press conference,' might have been a better course of action."

That would only be true of the governor and the attorney general actually wanted the medical-marijuana law to go into effect.

They don't. And Burke's letter gave them an excuse to delay or prevent that from happening while pretending they are not trying to circumvent the will of the people.

That would be bad, because every time Brewer talks about Senate Bill 1070, she calls it a matter of states' rights. When it comes to medical marijuana, however, all that fiery bluster goes up in smoke.

Apparently, Brewer and Horne are only willing to trumpet the will of the people when the people support laws they agree with.

Many politicians are like that. The comedian and talk-show host Bill Maher described it this way: "Whenever the people are for gay marriage or medical marijuana or assisted suicide, suddenly the 'will of the people' goes out the window."

Horne said he believes the lawsuit he and Brewer cooked up could wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court, putting Arizona in the national spotlight again and reinforcing the idea that politicians in our lovely state actually do the wacky things they do while grounded in reality, and without any assistance from controlled substances. Which reminds me of joke I heard once from a glaucoma sufferer who regularly smoked marijuana to ease the condition: